Coffee maker and filter



Jam 14, 1936- c; D. KEAToN 2,027,826

COFFEE MAKER AND FILTER Filed Nov. 7, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l "Il 1 y E..

TTORNEY Jan. 14, 1936.` D, KETON 2,027,826

COFFEE MAKER AND FILTER Filed Nov. '7, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN'roRC/yde D. /fea/o/z ww MM TTORNEY Patented 14, 1936x UNITED STATES PATENToI-FlcE come man am miranA Application November 7, 1933, Serial No.696.954

4 Claims. (Cl. 21o-162) The present invention relates to an apparatusfor making iniusions of cotiees or the like and more particularly to aiiltering device iorvsaid apparatus.

In coffee makers oi type wherein there is pro- .vided a lower containerand an upper container with an interconnecting passage between thecontainers generally 4formed by a tubular extension of the uppercontainer, it has been customary to place a filtering device at theupper end of the passage which, ii' made of cloth, permitted the entirepassage to remain open or it made of imperiorate glass formed an oriiicedetermined by the opening between theirregular peripherles oflglassiilter and wall of the container. In either instance there is asingle oriilce, the size of which cannot be varied to change the rate ofiiow between the two containers and a illter made for one size of coiieemaker cannotbe utilized in another. K i

It is essential, in order to obtain the best brew to prevent the flow ofwater from the lower container to the upper until a predeterminedtemperature has been reached, which in the present coiIee makers cannotbe done.

An object of the present invention is the pro- Y vision of means wherebythe rate of flow from one container to the'other may be varied. Anotherobject is to prevent flow of the liquid until a preso determinedtemperature has been reached. 'Another obiect is the provision of aplurality of k small orifices between the containers instead oi a singlelarge one. A further provision is a iilter which is adjustable to varythe size' of the ori-3 iices and thereby suitable for use with devicesof diierentoapacltles. A still further object is a iilter which may bereadily cleaned. A still iurther object isa lter which may be used withthe coiiee makers now in use.

These and other objects will be readily understood with reference to theaccompanying drawings in which: f Y

Fig. 1 isa sectional view of one embodiment of the invention; L i

Fig. .2 is av perspective view of the filter ,of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3 3 ci l, Fig. 4 is a view ofanother embodiment of the 5o invention;

Fig. 5 is a'perspectlve view of the iiltervoi Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a view of one ofthe apertured flow control elements. 55 'I'heembodiment as shown in Fig. 1 comprises an upper container 2 and a lowercontainer 4, the connection between the containers being hermeticallysealed by a resilient gasket I.

A filter and variable ilow control device Il is adapted to be placed ina `position to Ionn an- 5 'interconnecting passage between the twocontainers. This device comprises an Upper larger tubular section Il anda lower smaller wbular 'section it connected by a lateral portion il.The

under side oi. the lateral portion /il forms a bear- 10 ing surface i4adapted to rest upon the bottom portion 3 of the upper container 2, toform a closure for the lower container 4. The upper side oi' thislateral portion I8 forms a seat 22 which loosely'supports one or moreiiow control ele- 15 I' ments 24 located inthe upper tubular section ilor the device. The side walls of this upper tubular section Il have aseries ot .openings i2 for establishing communication between the upperand lower containers through the interiors of the 20 upper and lowertubular sections. The-now control elements 24 are made with a crosssection smaller than the cross section of the bore o! the upper tubularsection Il of the nlter and each .element 24 has an aperture 22'therethrough of 25 approximately the same diameter as the passage 2Bthrough the lower' tubular section II of the v iilter.

, There is preferably provided at least one nonapertured element 28placed at the top and form- 30 ing with the apertured elements 24 atubular elongation of passage 2li through 4e lower tubular section"projecting upwardly to the upper tubular section I i, the elementsbeing maintained in alinement with the passage 2l by the side walls 35of the upper tubular section Il. The contacting surfaces of the elementsare made irregular to form a plurality of small oriilces to enableliquid to flow therebetween to and from the passages through theupper,and lower tubular sections. 40 'I'he upper tubular section Il isfurther provided with a screw thread 2l to receive the mating end of thehandle piece 8l which serves as a closure for the top of the tubularsection II and also enables the iilter to be readily inserted or removedfrom position. The handle piece may also servel as the end closure inplace of element 26, but for reasons hereinafter explained it ispreferable to have a clearance above the ow control elements to allowfor a limited Avertical movement thereof. 50. Filter I il may beremovably held in 'position in any suitable manner. In the embodimentsho this is accomplished by forming projecting l in container 2 whichcooperate with the angular V slots 32 in the sidewalls oithe uppertubular 55 therethrough.

section l I, acting as a bayonet joint to hold same in position andpermit ready insertion or removal of the lter from the holder.

In operation the liquid is placed into the lower` y container 4 andI theground colee bean in the upper container 2. Upon the application of heatto the lower container a pressure will begin to build in the space Aabove the water line and upon becoming suiiciently great it will forcethe water upwardly through passage 2B in the'lower tubular section i6into the upper container. A clearance 38 is allowed above the top ilowcontrol element which permits the elements to separate upon pressurebeing applied by the rising liquid, thereby enlarging the orices andpermitting a very rapid ow of liquid into the upper container, theemptying of the lower container until the water falls below the end ofthe section i6 thus being accomplished without substantial change in thetemperature of the liquid.

In order to prevent the water from being forced upwardly through thelower tubular section I6 before a predetermined temperature has beenreached a very small lost motion is provided for between the lugs 5 andthe traverse portions oi ytheir slots 32 whereby the tubular-member maybe raised slightly, thus moving the under-side bearing surface lil ofthe lateral portion i8 slightly away from its seat on the bottom portion3 of the upper container 2.` This will produce a very restrictedpassage,thus permitting the pressure in the lower container to be temporarilyreleased. 'As the pressure continues to build up it will overcome thebalancing eect'of the opening and then force the water upwardly throughthe lower tubular section i6. An opening having approximately the samesize as an orice having 51g inch diameter has been found suflicientlylarge to prevent the flow of water in a. coffee maker having a 50 ouncecapacity until the temperature thereof has risen to approximately 195,the desired lower limit at which coilee should be brewed.

As the lower container cools, a vacuum will be' minute crevices betweenthe iiow control elements 2e. The rate of now will be dependent upon thenumber of apertured control elements 2li in the upper tubular section iiand due to the minutely small openings between 'each elementfthe passageof coffee grounds is made impossible. Upon completion of the downwardiiow the upper container is removed permitting the coiee to be servedfroml the lower one. The lter may be removed .and readily cleaned bypassing a stream of wate The embodiment of Fig. 4 differs from that ofFig. l in that the upper container 2 is provided with a. tubularextension 2a as inthe colee mak-- ers now in common use. As the pressurein the lower container does not act directly on the lter the holdingmeans may be dispensed with, the lower tubular section I6 beingsuflicient to keep the lter-positioned, it being understood that the`lower tubular section I6 could be dispensed with and holding meansprovided. In this embodiment to prevent the water from being forcedupwardly before a. predetermined temperature has beeni'reached, an orice33 is provided in the tubular extension 2a which if no other escape isprovided will enable thepressure to lift the bearing surface I0 fromitsseat to release same. In the embodiment illustrated, an orifice 34 isalso providediln the lower tubular section I6, which will enable thepressure to be released therethrough without lifting the bearing surface40 from its seat. The exact location of the orifice and its size willvary somewhat but with a coffee maker holding approximately'50 ounces ofwater a 31g inch oriiice about 1% inch above the water line will preventthe water from rising until the desired temperature is obtained. As thepressure increases it will overcome the balancingeiect of the oriiicewhereupon the water will be forced upward through lower tubular section-I6 intothe upper container 2, as in the prior embodiment. If thepressure is sufciently great some water may be forced upwardly throughtubular extension 2a when holding means are not provided but upon thecreation of a vacuum in the lower container, the bearing surface M3 willseat and prevent any return flow through tubular extension 2a. .f

The size oi the ow control orice between the containers may readily bevaried by varying the number of ow control elements in sections il, thisbeing done by removing the handle piece 3@ whereupon the elements may beremoved and one or more apertured elements removed and replaced byclosure elements to decrease the combined orice size or vice versa. 'Asit may be desirable to make the iilter in one piece the elements may bereadily interchanged by standing them on edge and drawing them throughopenings l2, which are slightly wider than the elements. It is likewisepossible to control the size of orifice by varying the irregularity ofthe contacting surfaces or the size of the apertures Z3. Likewise byvarying the clearance 38 the vertical opening may be varied. Thus thesame type lter may be used regardless'of' the size of the coffee' makerit only being necessary to vary 'the number of ow control elements toobtain the required rate of ow from one container to the other.

Preferably', a plurality of ow control elements are used, for in thismanner the i'llter extends well up into the liquid in the uppercontainer and due to the arrangement of orices the flow of water intothe upper container will be in substantially horizontal streams carryingthe coffee away from the lter, whereupon the very lne sediment will tendto drop to the bottom of the mass. The openings l2 preferably terminateshort of the bottom of the upper vtubular section I l thus forming acircumferential shoulder 40 which prevents the ine sediment from beingcarried to the orices, thus eliminating 'the possibility of clogging thelter. As the liquid is forced downward it will not successively passfrom the coiiee grounds at the to'p of the mass to those at the bottomas has heretofore occurred but there will be a horizontal ow toward thelter whereby the water passing through one stratum of coee will not passthrough another, thus eliminating the passage of the entire contentsthrough the finely divided sediment which settles to the bottom of themass and assuring a brew free of suspended matter.

Fig, 1 and bear-ing surface I4 securely held in' bottom position.Preferably, the parts are made of glass or some other non-metallicsubstance with which the coilee will vnot react.

The following is claimed:

l. A removable nltr for coii'ee makers comprising a vitreous tubularmember having one or more side openings and a passage communicating`therewith and a gravity operated vitreous disk-like element looselydisposed within the tubular member and normally almost closing saidpassage.

v 2. A removable niter :or coffee makers comprising a vitreous tubularmember having one or more side openings and a e communicating therewith.and a plurality of gravity operated vitreous elements loosely disposedtace to face in a single stack within the tubular member and normallyalmost closing said e, the top lelement of the stack being non-aperturedand and lovversections of greater andlesser diam-- eters respectively,the upper section having one or more side openings and the lower sectionhaving a restricted passage therethrough and a gravity operated vitreousdisk-like element loosely disposed within the upper section of thetubular member and normally almost closing the upper end of saidrestricted passage.

4. A removable illter for coffee makers comprising avitreous tubularmember having upper and lower sections of greater and lesser diametersrespectiveiy, the upper section having one or more side openings and thelower section having a restricted passage therethrough and a pluralityoi' gravity operated vitreous elements loosely disposed face to face ina single stack within the upper section oi the tubular member

